FL – David, 88, & Mina Swan, 80, Double Murder, Clearwater, 29 SEP 2018

[SeesSeas]

Clearwater Police, Outfront Media team up for billboard effort in Swan murder case
Published: November 21, 2018
[...]
Outfront Media has donated space on several billboards throughout the Tampa Bay area, urging anyone with information on the slaying of the Swans to come forward. They can call the tip line at (727) 562-4141.
[...]
The billboards are based at what the police department calls "high-visibility locations such as U.S. 19, Hillsborough Avenue and Ulmerton Road."

Billboards focus on unsolved murder of Clearwater couple
Updated: Nov 21, 2018 03:37 PM EST
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - Clearwater police have teamed up with Outfront Media to keep the Swan murder case in the public eye.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

Neighbors asking the public to help crack Swan murder cases
Updated: Dec 14, 2018 08:04 PM EST
CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) - After more than two months, questions are still swirling around the double murder of an elderly couple in Clearwater.

The people who live near the couple’s home on Flushing Avenue tell News Channel 8 they are constantly talking about the case and they want you to talk about it too.

One clue could lead to an arrest in the killings of David and Mina Swan.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

<modsnipped quoted post>

Welcome Laurie3990. I'm local and drove through the neighborhood a few days after the murders.

I am a family member of a local unsolved murder 32 years ago, so I do have a sense of what your family is suffering.

Regarding 'professional hit', I'm curious if you have researched the court records for M A L that I described in this post on page 1. I can't imagine Clearwater PD hasn't looked at this angle, but they could probably use some nudging.
FL – David, 88, & Mina Swan, 80, Double Murder, Clearwater, 29 SEP 2018

https://ccmspa.pinellascounty.org/PublicAccess/default.aspx
Pinellas County public records reflect seven 'small claims' civil lawsuits filed by David S Swan Jr during the past few decades.
Most recent lawsuit was filed SEP 2014 alleging vehicle damage;
JAN 2015 judgement was favorable to defendant M A L - PLTFF SHALL TAKE NOTHING/JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT
David Swan filed appeal FEB 2015; appeal dismissed MAR 2015.
Perhaps M A L was angry about time and attorney fees fighting the lawsuit and appeal?

 

[Tripod]

Thinking of the Swans!

 

[SeesSeas]

Just now saw this article from DEC 29. Nice video interview of daughter at link:
Still no arrest in Clearwater couple's murder
POSTED: DEC 29 2018 05:56PM EST
VIDEO POSTED: DEC 29 2018 07:03PM EST
UPDATED: DEC 29 2018 07:09PM EST
CLEARWATER, Fla. (FOX 13) - A Clearwater murder investigation just hit the 90-day mark, and police have yet to make an arrest.
[...]
Before the holidays, authorities placed electronic message boards in high visibility roadways and intersections.

The unique move yielded little results before the holiday season.
[...]

 

[Tripod]

Just now saw this article from DEC 29. Nice video interview of daughter at link:
Still no arrest in Clearwater couple's murder
POSTED: DEC 29 2018 05:56PM EST
VIDEO POSTED: DEC 29 2018 07:03PM EST
UPDATED: DEC 29 2018 07:09PM EST
CLEARWATER, Fla. (FOX 13) - A Clearwater murder investigation just hit the 90-day mark, and police have yet to make an arrest.
[...]
Before the holidays, authorities placed electronic message boards in high visibility roadways and intersections.

The unique move yielded little results before the holiday season.
[...]

Thanks for posting this. Justice for the Swans and their family!

 

[Catmommy]

Were they Scientologists by any chance? In view of the recent broadcasts of Leah Remini revealing Scientology's goals and methods as well as what's been going on in Clearwater for decades now involving that "religion", it is a question that bears asking.

 

[SeesSeas]

David Swan was described as "a fiercely competitive bridge player". He had attained a high rank (Ruby Life Master) one year before the murders.
Angry competitor?

Clearwater police seek public’s help in solving the murder of elderly couple
David Swan was a fiercely competitive bridge player.

Chief Says Murders Of Retired Clearwater Couple Hard To Fathom
David Swan was passionate about playing bridge.

District Nine Masterpoint Change of Rank
District Nine Masterpoint Change of Rank
Effective end of August 2017
David Swan, Jr - Clearwater FL - Ruby Life Master

 

[Catmommy]

Red herring?

 

[Tripod]

This case bothers me so much. I'm thinking of the Swans and their children, and hoping something breaks sooner, rather than later.

 

[SeesSeas]

Reward increased to $50,000 in Clearwater couple's murders
Updated Mar 29 2019 11:18PM EDT
CLEARWATER, Fla. (FOX 13) - The family of a murdered Clearwater couple is now offering a $50,000 reward for answers six months after their murders.

Reward money nearly doubled in case of Clearwater couple found shot to death
Updated: 7:04 PM, Mar 29, 2019
No arrests have been made. Clearwater detectives say they need more tips to lead them to the person(s) responsible.

Clearwater Police Chief Daniel Slaughter has said someone targeted the couple. Chief Slaughter ruled out any home break-in, robbery or similar crime. The house was well organized when police arrived to investigate.

Family of Murdered Clearwater Couple Increase Reward for Information
PUBLISHED 8:42 PM EDT Mar. 29, 2019
David Swan's daughter, Janet Lowrey, said the family believes someone knows what happened. She pleaded with that person to come forward.

"You have the power to put our hearts at rest," Lowrey said. "You have the power to stop the emotional roller coaster of fear in our young children. You have the power to stop someone from committing more murders. Please make a phone call, take the reward and use the money to change your life."

 

[Tripod]

I hope the increased reward will help bring in more tips. It often doesn't seem to, in other cases we've seen, but why oh why was this wonderful elderly couple killed? Bump for the Swans and their family!

 

[SeesSeas]

Fear grips Clearwater neighborhood after elderly couple's double murder
Updated: Oct 03, 2018 08:45 AM EDT
[...]
“I completely understand but I want to reiterate, it appears at this time to be an isolated incident and not a random act,” said Lt. Michael Walek.
[...]
Walek won’t put a timetable on it but tells 8 On Your Side he’s confident this case will be solved.

“One hundred percent,” Walek said.

Another month has passed since the reward was increased.
Seven LONG months that the family has been waiting for answers and justice.
I wonder if Lt Walek is still "confident this case will be solved".
I fear that it won't be solved; that the murders were revenge by one gunman who has told nobody about his crimes. Therefore, nobody will seek the reward. The murderer is probably not a career criminal.
I hope I'm wrong.

Fear grips Clearwater neighborhood after elderly couple's double murder
Walek won’t put a timetable on it but tells 8 On Your Side he’s confident this case will be solved.

 

[Tripod]

Still thinking of David and Mina and their family! Prayers for guidance for LE and justice.

 

[SeesSeas]

Just now found this Shreveport Times article from a month ago:
Florida police seek information in the double-homicide of Shreveport native and wife
Florida police seek information in the double-homicide of Shreveport native and wife
Published 1:25 p.m. CT April 30, 2019 | Updated 10:01 p.m. CT April 30, 2019
[...]
Investigators believe the couple was targeted and said there weren’t any signs of forced entry into the home. But despite the numerous interviews and articles of evidence collected, police are still short whatever clue or bit of information they need to solve the case — so they are reaching out beyond state lines for tips.
[...]
“We’re kind of at a point right now where we’re really reaching out to our community and the communities that our victims were previously from to see if anybody has any information about their backgrounds, family issues, business issues that might be pertinent to our investigation,” Clearwater police detective Brian Kanicki told The Times.
[...]
"It's very, very rare for us to have an elderly couple or any type of homicide occurring where we don't have an obvious suspect right away. You know, typically they're domestic related or drug, gang related," Kanicki told The Times.

"And we’ve had multiple detectives working on this case the last seven months looking at every angle we possibly can. We’re looking for that little bit of information to pull it all together," he continued.
[...]
Investigators spent three days collecting nearly 200 pieces of evidence. They also interviewed more than 100 people who had interaction with the couple, including family, friends, neighbors, business associates and others.

"This was very specific to them. Someone came to their house… targeted them in the past. It doesn’t look like a random act," Kanicki said. "It doesn’t look like, you know, somebody stumbled across them or they stumbled across a crime in progress in their house."

Investigators are unsure if one or multiple people were involved in the crime.

Notes from detectives
Both David and Mina were both previously married and have children from their previous marriages.

Mina shared the home that David and Mina had been living in with a previous husband for about 40 years before she married David. She and David married in the late '90s and lived in the home since.

David was born and raised in Shreveport. He graduated from a high school in the area before he left to join the U.S. Navy. Afterward, he relocated to Illinois and started a CPA business, but he still has family in Shreveport.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

Obituary for David Swan - Published in Shreveport Times on May 5, 2019
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=david-sidney-swan&pid=192793795
David Sidney Swan Jr.
1930 - 2018
- David Sidney Swan, Jr. (88) was born April 15, 1930 and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana to Carra Vesta Swan (nee Sistrunk) and David Sidney Swan, Sr. He and his wife, Mina Swan, died suddenly September 29, 2018 in Clearwater, Florida.
[...]
Dave moved to Clearwater, Florida in the early 1980s and set up a tax practice there until his retirement. He married Mina Wolf (nee Heschum), in 1999. David lived life to the absolute fullest, sharing his adventures with his wife, his children and grandchildren. With the trail name Twinkletoes, he completed the Appalachian Trail in 2002, more than half of it with his wife, whose trail name was Artsy. A private pilot, he enjoyed flying his family to Louisiana, Missouri, around Pike's Peak, to Monument Valley and into the Grand Canyon, among other places. He and Mina were avid bird watchers throughout their world travels, which included most of the United States and Europe, China, Chile, Argentina, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Dave recently attained the level of Ruby Life Master in Bridge, and he and Mina were also members of the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club. His children remember him as a sailor, fisherman, scuba diver, ballroom and square dancer, whistler, ice- and roller-skater, spelunker, author, yodeler, patent holder, and unicyclist. But most of all they will remember his zest for life.

Services have already been held.
[...]

 

[Tripod]

Wh

Obituary for David Swan - Published in Shreveport Times on May 5, 2019
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=david-sidney-swan&pid=192793795
David Sidney Swan Jr.
1930 - 2018
- David Sidney Swan, Jr. (88) was born April 15, 1930 and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana to Carra Vesta Swan (nee Sistrunk) and David Sidney Swan, Sr. He and his wife, Mina Swan, died suddenly September 29, 2018 in Clearwater, Florida.
[...]
Dave moved to Clearwater, Florida in the early 1980s and set up a tax practice there until his retirement. He married Mina Wolf (nee Heschum), in 1999. David lived life to the absolute fullest, sharing his adventures with his wife, his children and grandchildren. With the trail name Twinkletoes, he completed the Appalachian Trail in 2002, more than half of it with his wife, whose trail name was Artsy. A private pilot, he enjoyed flying his family to Louisiana, Missouri, around Pike's Peak, to Monument Valley and into the Grand Canyon, among other places. He and Mina were avid bird watchers throughout their world travels, which included most of the United States and Europe, China, Chile, Argentina, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Dave recently attained the level of Ruby Life Master in Bridge, and he and Mina were also members of the St. Petersburg Astronomy Club. His children remember him as a sailor, fisherman, scuba diver, ballroom and square dancer, whistler, ice- and roller-skater, spelunker, author, yodeler, patent holder, and unicyclist. But most of all they will remember his zest for life.

Services have already been held.
[...]

What full and fascinating lives they lived! What a tragic ending they did not deserve. I hope something, anything, shows up to help the investigators soon.

 

[SeesSeas]

David Sidney Swan, Jr. [...] His children remember him as a . . . patent holder, [...]

My first thought when I read "patent holder" was rage over a patent dispute similar to the 2014 Canadian murders of a Calgary couple and their five-year-old grandson.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calg...in-kathy-liknes-murder-trial-begins-1.3936820
Deceased/Not Found - Canada - Alvin, 66, & Kathy Liknes, 53, Nathan O'Brien, 5, Calgary, 30 June 2014 - #1
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/canada-alvin-66-kathy-liknes-53-nathan-obrien-5-calgary-30-jun-2014-29.329734/

I couldn't find any patents in the name of our David Swan. I found patents in the name of a different David Swan. If the patent was pre-1976, the search mechanism is limited:
US Patent Full-Text Database Boolean Search
Patents from 1790 through 1975 are searchable only by Issue Date, Patent Number, and Current US Classification.

I did multiple searches for Swan Clearwater and Swan Illinois.
David Swan Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search
United States Patent and Trademark Office
US Patent Full-Text Database Boolean Search
US Published Application Full-Text Database Boolean Search

View David Swan's Obituary on shreveporttimes.com and share memories
David Sidney Swan, Jr.
His children remember him as a sailor, fisherman, scuba diver, ballroom and square dancer, whistler, ice- and roller-skater, spelunker, author, yodeler, patent holder, and unicyclist.

 

[SeesSeas]

I found a 2006 civil court appeal - judgment against DAVID S. SWAN, JR., Appellant - regarding an airplane:
The case below stems from the purchase and transfer of an airplane over a twenty-year period. Swan was one of four individuals who purchased the subject airplane, a Cessna 210, through a corporation, Frankfort Flyers, Inc., in the 1970s.

View David Swan's Obituary on shreveporttimes.com and share memories
David Sidney Swan, Jr.
[...]A private pilot, he enjoyed flying his family to Louisiana, Missouri, around Pike's Peak, to Monument Valley and into the Grand Canyon, among other places.

Appeal No. 04-0094AP-88A
County Civil Court: CIVIL PROCEDURE – Summary Judgment – domesticating foreign judgment – Oklahoma judgment is entitled to full faith and credit when Appellant did not contest or otherwise appeal the Oklahoma judgment after making an appearance in Oklahoma proceedings – Appellant failed to meet burden that trial court committed error – summary judgment affirmed. Swan v. First American Transportation Title Ins. Co., Appeal No. 04-0094AP-88A (Fla. 6th Cir. App. Ct. March 7, 2006).

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA
APPELLATE DIVISION

DAVID S. SWAN, JR.,
Appellant,

ORDER AND OPINION

THIS CAUSE came before the Court on appeal, filed by David S. Swan, Jr. (Swan), from the Final Summary Judgment for Plaintiff, entered October 5, 2005,[1] in favor of First American Transportation Title Insurance Company, as assignee of TD [redacted]. Upon review of the briefs, the record and being otherwise fully advised, the Court affirms the trial court’s ruling as set forth below.

The case below stems from the purchase and transfer of an airplane over a twenty-year period. Swan was one of four individuals who purchased the subject airplane, a Cessna 210, through a corporation, Frankfort Flyers, Inc., in the 1970s. The airplane was then delivered and sold to an individual, SW [redacted], in 1981, subject to a security interest which Swan, as president of Frankfort Flyers, recorded with the FAA in Oklahoma. Wheaton made no payments and the airplane was subsequently auctioned off.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

An odd small claims court case 1999/2000:
Appeal 99-8455-CI-88A David S. Swan Jr., vs. Glenn Rasmussen & Fogarty, P.A.
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA
APPELLATE DIVISION

DAVID S. SWAN, JR., et al.,
Appellant,

Appeal No. 99-8455-CI-88A
Appeals from Final Judgment
County Court, Small Claims Division, Pinellas County
[...]
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Order Granting Summary Judgment for Defendant, is hereby reversed. On remand, the lower court shall enter an Order Setting Aside the Order Granting Judgment for Defendant and proceeding accordingly.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers, at Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida this ________ day of October 2000.